[Da_Shrimp]

It was the 40th Anniversary of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. I was 15. Where does the time go?

"As Douglas Adams's epic returns to radio four decades after it all began, we trace the cult of h2g2 - from radio to books to stage to TV to film and all the way back again..."

How we got to where we are tomorrow

[Trillian]

“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.”
“Why, what did she tell you?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t listen.”

[DannyTN]

Wow. I still remember my brother's reaction after reading my copy of the books....

"What was that guy taking when he wrote those?"

[robroys woman]

I have all five volumes, read by the author, on my phone as mp3 files.

[Da_Shrimp]

[JPJones]

“Wow what’s this thing coming towards me so fast, I think I’ll call it Ground.” -The whale.

[KarlInOhio]

The President in particular is very much a figurehead - he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.

[GunHoardingCapitalist]

Keep calm and always carry a towel!

[mykroar]

Infinite Improbability Drive

[Conan the Librarian]

My Mom and I would communicate using Arthur Dent.

When I was in college out of town, she always asked me to call and tell her that I arrived safe. I would call “Collect” if all was well and ask to speak to Arthur Dent. As long as all was well, that was enough.

“Do you want me to sit in a corner and rust, or, fall apart where I’m standing?”

[mewzilla]

FRANKIE MOUSE:
Oh, er, well eventually just habit I think. To be brutally honest - and this is more or less the point - we are sick to the teeth of the whole thing! And the prospect of doing it all over again on the account of those whinnet-ridden Vogons, quite frankly, gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies, you know what I mean?

[W0bee]

Just found out yesterday that the theme from the radio program was an Eagles song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG40elYiFmM

[ctdonath2]

Towel & copy of H2G2 in glove box, destined for Asteroid Belt.

[ctdonath2]

H2G2 was remarkably formative for this then-teenager.

Led to the incredibly helpful life principles “if I’m going to be wrong, I’m going to be DEFINITIVELY wrong”, “demand well-defined areas of doubt & uncertainty”, and other great quotes.

There was a point where I could literally have quoted the entire 6 hours of the original radio show verbatim.

[petro45acp]

“...only always...”

KYPD

or

KYTH

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say "Hang the sense of it" and just keep yourself occupied.

Arthur: "And does that work?"
Slartibartfast: "No. And that's where it all falls down."

[Sans-Culotte]

I love the original radio version.

[Da_Shrimp]

I wonder how much more we could have to read/listen to/watch if Adams hadn't died so young?

I visited Adam's grave in Highgate Cemetery a while ago. There's a pot of pens and pencils there, on the gravestone: you can take one and leave one. I did.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

Oh no! Not again!

[ssaftler]

This goes a long way to explaining why one of the Cable movie networks has recently been showing the POS movie made some years ago with Martin Freeman and Mos Def as Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. To quote Marvin, the movie was “Dreadful”.

Wish someone would replay the BBC TV version, which was pretty funny and covered all three of the original books. Or, better yet, the original BBC radio series.

[SunTzuWu]

“Several billion trillion tons of superhot exploding hydrogen nuclei rose slowly above the horizon and managed to look small, cold and slightly damp.”